I really don't have any issues with the hit. Duchene went into the neutral zone with his head down and with his eyes on the puck instead of that freight train that was bearing down on him. He knows better; what happened to him has been happening to other players making the same mistake since time immemorial. I don't see a shred of evidence that Middleton was head hunting on this play.
I always have to remember I fundamentally disagree with the nhl when it comes to hits & what should be allowed when stuff like this happens, as I believe they should be better at protecting the players and they like Boom Big Hits more
If the players wanted the hits to the head to be minimized, period (no matter point of contact, intent, etc), they could make it a priority for collective bargaining. They haven't. Much as I think DoPS is poorly run, the onus isn't solely on the league.
Well, I think the players could certainly move the needle, but the league has the ability (with DoPS) to make changes pretty regularly through the Board of Governors, etc. So I tend to put more responsibility at the league's feet than the players.
I like to watch the Avs on off nights on hopes they lose, but I can't listen to that homer crew, it's absolutely brutal. Also think they don't call instigator on the fight, when they know they should have called the original hit.
I'd love to do some kind of market study that assigns Homer Ratings to various local broadcasts. It would be interesting to see what trends there were/weren't by region, how old the team was, etc.
As a hockey official (not nhl-level at all, done some youth AAA and college, but nothing pro) I thought id provide some ref-analysis here.
I think Hyrckowian was lucky to avoid an instigator by rule, as you mentioned. As for how he didn't, after the hit on Miro, the referee in the Colorado game is focused on the battle on the wall when Hyrckowian kind of sneaks below the goal line and starts the fight. Focusing on this peice of ice cuts off some of his field of view of the rest of the ice. Hyrckowian does cover some distance getting there, but its far from the point of focus of the referee. When the fight starts, that becomes that in-zone referee's world. The back referee is responsible for looking at the rest of the players making sure nothing else jumps off, while the two linesman become responsible for being ready to jump in as soon as the players fall to the ice, or the situation becomes unsafe for one of the participants. I would venture a guess that the referee had a feeling it was probably worthy of an instigator and didn't call it because he wasnt 100% sure how obvious it was that it wasnt an immediate response.
The referee for the Wild tilt is much more aware of everything at play. Hes in the far corner, so he has a MUCH wider field of vision on the play. So when the back referee blows the play dead for Duchene's safety, the front referee can clearly see both Middleton in the opposite corner, and Petrovic coming in hot from the neutral zone. A player skating 100 feet to start a fight while the play is dead is going to have a much harder time avoiding one than one blending in to live play.
That makes a lot of sense. Thank you for this insight! I'm also willing to be that the bigger calls (like 17 PIM instigator calls) tend to require a higher degree of confidence from a referee before they make them. So it makes more sense than even something as simply as a bad angle, field of vision, etc. would prevent them from pulling the trigger on that call in that situation. Please feel free to yell at me for any ignorant officiating commentary I might accidentally utter in the future.
I was at the WPG & COL games - holy shit Ball Arena is a pit of vipers.
They HATE us - and you can see it in the media & fans. Their version of the V+ studio is actually in Ball Arena on the club level (rather than their new locale of a broom closet). It's kind of funny given how little it seems stars fans think about Avs/Wild but boy howdy - the converse aint true.
The entirety of Altitude Sports/DNVR and basically everyone I heard talk - they glaze the Avs wildly and HATE the stars.
I really don't have any issues with the hit. Duchene went into the neutral zone with his head down and with his eyes on the puck instead of that freight train that was bearing down on him. He knows better; what happened to him has been happening to other players making the same mistake since time immemorial. I don't see a shred of evidence that Middleton was head hunting on this play.
I always have to remember I fundamentally disagree with the nhl when it comes to hits & what should be allowed when stuff like this happens, as I believe they should be better at protecting the players and they like Boom Big Hits more
Yeah, the deeper philosophical shift that would be required for that still feels at least a decade away, to be honest.
If the players wanted the hits to the head to be minimized, period (no matter point of contact, intent, etc), they could make it a priority for collective bargaining. They haven't. Much as I think DoPS is poorly run, the onus isn't solely on the league.
Well, I think the players could certainly move the needle, but the league has the ability (with DoPS) to make changes pretty regularly through the Board of Governors, etc. So I tend to put more responsibility at the league's feet than the players.
I like to watch the Avs on off nights on hopes they lose, but I can't listen to that homer crew, it's absolutely brutal. Also think they don't call instigator on the fight, when they know they should have called the original hit.
I'd love to do some kind of market study that assigns Homer Ratings to various local broadcasts. It would be interesting to see what trends there were/weren't by region, how old the team was, etc.
Aren’t the altitude guys such a lovely, unbiased bunch?
They are certainly a group of broadcasters who are paid to broadcast the game.
As a hockey official (not nhl-level at all, done some youth AAA and college, but nothing pro) I thought id provide some ref-analysis here.
I think Hyrckowian was lucky to avoid an instigator by rule, as you mentioned. As for how he didn't, after the hit on Miro, the referee in the Colorado game is focused on the battle on the wall when Hyrckowian kind of sneaks below the goal line and starts the fight. Focusing on this peice of ice cuts off some of his field of view of the rest of the ice. Hyrckowian does cover some distance getting there, but its far from the point of focus of the referee. When the fight starts, that becomes that in-zone referee's world. The back referee is responsible for looking at the rest of the players making sure nothing else jumps off, while the two linesman become responsible for being ready to jump in as soon as the players fall to the ice, or the situation becomes unsafe for one of the participants. I would venture a guess that the referee had a feeling it was probably worthy of an instigator and didn't call it because he wasnt 100% sure how obvious it was that it wasnt an immediate response.
The referee for the Wild tilt is much more aware of everything at play. Hes in the far corner, so he has a MUCH wider field of vision on the play. So when the back referee blows the play dead for Duchene's safety, the front referee can clearly see both Middleton in the opposite corner, and Petrovic coming in hot from the neutral zone. A player skating 100 feet to start a fight while the play is dead is going to have a much harder time avoiding one than one blending in to live play.
That makes a lot of sense. Thank you for this insight! I'm also willing to be that the bigger calls (like 17 PIM instigator calls) tend to require a higher degree of confidence from a referee before they make them. So it makes more sense than even something as simply as a bad angle, field of vision, etc. would prevent them from pulling the trigger on that call in that situation. Please feel free to yell at me for any ignorant officiating commentary I might accidentally utter in the future.
Dutchy hit was clean - just rattled him a bit.
I was at the WPG & COL games - holy shit Ball Arena is a pit of vipers.
They HATE us - and you can see it in the media & fans. Their version of the V+ studio is actually in Ball Arena on the club level (rather than their new locale of a broom closet). It's kind of funny given how little it seems stars fans think about Avs/Wild but boy howdy - the converse aint true.
The entirety of Altitude Sports/DNVR and basically everyone I heard talk - they glaze the Avs wildly and HATE the stars.
Great great game to go catch on a Saturday night.